The right-hander left the game against the San Diego Padres after throwing 117 pitches. He recorded 13 of 14 outs on strikeouts four of them in the third, when a wild pitch on strike three allowed Will Venable to reach base. The Padres center fielder stole second and third base, then scored on a balk for a 3-0 lead.

Cobb departed after walking Yonder Alonso with two outs in the fifth. The Rays trailed 3-2 at the time.

If her victory celebration on the stadium court seemed well-rehearsed, it was. She earned a record sixth Key Biscayne women's title Saturday by beating familiar foil Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at the Sony Open.

Sharapova set a new standard for futility in finals. She completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open last year, and won Indian Wells two weeks ago, but she's now 0-5 in Key Biscayne finals.

Sharapova playing nearly flawless tennis for an hour, before her serve and groundstrokes began to lose steam. Williams swept the last 10 games and faltered only during the trophy ceremony.

"I felt good today," she told the crowd with the smile. "It's so good to be No. 6 now I mean, the six-time oh, gosh. Thank you."

At 31, the No. 1-ranked Williams became the oldest female champion at Key Biscayne. She won the tournament for the first time since 2008 and surpassed Steffi Graf, a five-time champion.

"Serena played a great match," Sharapova said. "I'm sure we'll be playing a few more times this year."

Sharapova didn't sound thrilled by the prospect, with good reason. She has lost 11 consecutive matches against Williams and hasn't beaten her since 2004.

The men's finalists are familiar foes, too. On Sunday, 2009 champion Andy Murray will play frequent practice partner David Ferrer, who is trying to become the first Spaniard to win the men's title.

The women's final began at high noon in sunny, mild weather, and the quality of shotmaking matched the conditions in the early going. The aggressive style of both players made for slam-bang points, and the occasional long rallies had a near-capacity crowd gasping at their ferocity.

As they battled from the baseline, Sharapova built a lead by keeping Williams on the defensive, and kissed the line with a winner on consecutive points to break for a 3-2 advantage in the second set.

"I just was like, 'Serena, are you really going to get to the final and not play up to your potential?'" Williams said. "I don't think I was as energized as I could be."

Then came the turnaround. Williams ratcheted up the power, began feasting on Sharapova's tentative second serve and broke back at love, then took advantage of two double-faults by Sharapova to break again.

Williams lives 2 hours up I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens, and she made herself right at home in the final set, losing only 10 points.

"That's why she's No. 1 in the world," Sharapova said. "She's really capable of doing that. I was controlling a lot of the points in the first set and the beginning of the second. Then toward the end, I wasn't there."

Williams' late surge won cheers from the crowd, which included her sister, three-time champion Venus.

Sharapova made 80 percent of her first serves early on but finished at 63. Williams converted all seven break-point chances and had a 35-13 advantage in winners.

But Williams' standards are high, and in her postmatch news conference, she sounded as though she had lost.

"Today wasn't my day, I don't think," she said. "Maria played really the best I have seen her play, and I think she was moving unbelievable, and she was hitting winners from everywhere."

It wasn't Williams' first test this week. She trailed Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 4-1 before rallying in the fourth round, and was annoyed to hit six double-faults in the quarterfinals.

"I'm happy to be holding the championship," she said. "It's definitely not my best tournament. I think everyone here can agree. But those are the moments that count when you can still come out on top."

She'll remain No. 1 and Sharapova No. 2 next week. Williams is the first No. 1-seeded woman to win the title since she was champion in 2004.

Williams' other titles at Key Biscayne came in 2002, '03, '07 and '08. Sharapova was runner-up in 2005, '06, '11 and '12.

"It's tough to lose in the final stage, because you work so hard to get there," Sharapova said. "But the more I give myself this opportunity, the better chance I have of winning."

Example: If my mom asks him how his parents are doing, without looking up from his cellphone he'll grunt and say, "They're fine" -- nothing more. When we go out to dinner, he usually doesn't join in the conversation. Instead, he just sits there with a dismissive, bored look on his face.

I have told him I don't want him to come with me when I visit them. It only takes a few times before he asks if he can come again and promises to try to behave. But after a few visits, he reverts back to his old, rude ways. It has reached a point that it's affecting our marriage. Can you offer any suggestions for how this issue can be resolved? -- TIRED OF IT IN TORONTO

DEAR TIRED OF IT: It would be helpful to know why your husband behaves this way. Does he dislike your folks? Does he have so little in common with them he doesn't know how to participate in a conversation with them? Is he this way with any other people?

Perhaps it would be better for all concerned if he saw them with you less often, say, 30 percent to 50 percent of the time. And before he does, make sure he is up to the task of being social because, as it stands, I agree his behavior is rude.

He's not a teenager with his nose buried in a cellphone; he's an adult who should know better. If he finds your parents' company less than stimulating, he should be a better actor.

DEAR ABBY: Last year my darling mother lost her battle with cancer. Aside from grief and loss, a bigger issue looms over my life. It concerns my stepdad.

Before Mom was diagnosed, my stepfather was a selfish, self-centered man. At times he was mean to her to the point that I wanted her to leave him. In fairness, once Mom was diagnosed, he stepped up to the plate and took excellent care of her until her death.

I have other issues with my stepfather. He was inappropriate with me, sharing things he should have kept to himself. It caused my mother great heartache and made me lose respect for him. I am still uncomfortable around him. Mom knew how I felt and understood.

Now that she is gone, do I have any obligation to him? He has a strained relationship with his only child. My sibling thinks I'm too hard on him, but doesn't understand the major problems our stepdad caused. I don't want to continue pretending I like him. Please help, Abby. -- SEARCHING FOR GUIDANCE

DEAR SEARCHING: You are entitled to your feelings and, no, you do not have any obligation to your stepfather. If your sibling wants to see him, that's his/her choice. Explain to your sibling your reasons for feeling the way you do -- and if you encounter your stepfather during family gatherings, be polite and don't linger. That isn't pretending to like the man; it is good manners.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles challenged President Nicolas Maduro's narrow election victory before the Supreme Court on Thursday, prolonging what appears to be a futile effort to overturn last month's vote.

Capriles refused to accept the results of the April 14 vote for a successor to late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, and called on supporters to take the streets. That led to unruly demonstrations in which the government says nine people died.

Few expect Capriles to win a favorable ruling from the court, which the opposition says is controlled by the ruling Socialist Party. He may also go to international tribunals, though most countries have recognized Maduro's win.

"This appeal seeks to annul the elections and request new presidential elections in Venezuela," said Gerardo Fernandez, a lawyer representing the opposition, who are intent on at least discrediting Maduro even if they cannot overrule the result.

"We've come to defend the citizens who voted in April 14."

Fernandez said the appeal includes complaints relating to incidents prior to the election. The opposition accuses Maduro of using state resources and government media for his campaign.

Capriles also alleges there were thousands of irregularities on voting day, ranging from intimidation of poll station volunteers to illegal campaigning by government supporters.

"This is not over. No one here can get tired or throw in the towel," Capriles told a news conference, adding that his team had found names of 200,000 dead people on the electoral register.

As on previous occasions, Capriles' news conference was interrupted on television after a few minutes by a government "cadena" broadcast that all local channels are obliged to show live.

Opposition supporters responded by banging pots-and-pans in some neighborhoods in a traditional form of protest in Venezuela and some other Latin American countries.

FRAGILE POST-CHAVEZ ERA

Maduro pillories Capriles daily as a sore loser and "bourgeois cry-baby." He accuses Capriles of fomenting post-vote violence, including killings of government supporters and attacks on government-run clinics.

Residents of one Caracas community affected by post-election violence told Reuters that two people were shot and killed by opposition sympathizers following a protest.

The government also attributed a third fatality in the La Limonera community to opposition violence, but locals said that man was a victim of common crime.

The election was triggered by the March 5 death of Chavez, whose charismatic leadership and oil-financed social largesse made him a hero to the poor but a pariah to critics who called him a dictator.

Though he was anointed as Chavez's successor, Maduro beat Capriles by only 1.5 percentage points in contrast to Chavez's 11 point victory over the same rival last year.

With a weaker vote mandate and without Chavez's innate charisma, Maduro seems to have less control over the disparate socialist coalition that his predecessor ruled with an iron hand.

The vote dispute led to a punch-up in Congress on Tuesday that put several opposition deputies in hospital. Video footage showed government allies repeatedly punching one deputy in the face, leaving him bloodied and bruised.

The deputies had raised a banner saying "Coup in Parliament" after the pro-government leadership of the legislature prevented them from speaking during the session unless they explicitly recognized Maduro as president.

The government responded with a broadcast, set to eerie, suspense-thriller music, showing opposition deputies waving arms and one throwing a chair.

Julio Borges, the opposition deputy who bore the most notable wounds from the fracas, called Maduro a "big liar" in a Twitter post. "I challenge you to show the Assembly's closed circuit video footage without editing anything," he said.

Maduro allies have in most cases said they regretted the violence, but blame the incident on provocation by opposition deputies interrupting the session with whistles and air horns.

The pugnacious Prisons Minister Iris Varela was less cautious. "They really deserved the beating that they got," she said, according to local media.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and David Brunnstrom)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Shrinking the size of kids' plates and bowls and encouraging them to eat more frequently throughout the day might help them eat less and keep off extra weight, new research suggests.

In one study, researchers found first graders served themselves smaller portions when using miniaturized dishware - and ate less food when they had less on their plate.

Another review of past research found kids and teens who ate most often during the day were 22 percent less likely to be overweight than those who ate the fewest meals and snacks.

Jennifer Fisher, who worked on the dish-size study, said it was preliminary but could still inform parent choices.

"For now, certainly it seems like something parents can easily incorporate into their daily lives without a lot of work and effort," Fisher, from Temple University in Philadelphia, told Reuters Health.

She and her colleagues studied 42 elementary school kids who were given the chance to serve themselves lunch. On four days the kids used child-sized plates and bowls; on another four they used adult-sized dishware, which was twice as large.

First graders served themselves an average of 300 to 500 calories worth of the lunch entre - pasta or chicken nuggets - each day.

When they used adult dishware, the kids took an average of 90 more calories of food, the researchers found. And kids who ended up with more food on their plates also tended to eat more, Fisher's team wrote Monday in Pediatrics.

"It doesn't appear that simply because you might have large dishware at home, your child is going to overeat," said Fisher - because it depends on who's doing the serving and how much is served.

But, she added, "If more food appears on the plate, they're going to eat more."

"The results are very interesting and confirm our expectations that the impact of plate size on adults in the laboratory also apply to children," Dr. Thomas Robinson, a childhood obesity researcher at Stanford University in California, told Reuters Health in an email.

"This study provides very important preliminary evidence that using smaller dishware may help reduce children's energy intakes."

For their own analysis, researchers from Harokopio University in Athens, Greece, looked at 11 studies, mostly conducted in the Mediterranean, that compared eating frequency and weight in close to 19,000 kids and teens.

The overall pattern showed that youth who ate most often - typically at least four or five times per day - were least likely to be overweight or obese. However when they looked closer, the researchers found that link only held up in boys.

Robinson, who was not involved in the new research, said it's hard to tell which came first in those studies: eating frequency or extra weight.

The results "do not look very convincing one way or another," he said. "It is also hard to come up with a convincing reason why boys and girls would be different."

The researchers said their findings don't prove that a given child will lose weight by eating more often. But schools, for example, may be able to make a difference by integrating smaller, more frequent meals into the day.

"Instead of providing three big meals per day, it would be better (for parents) to have their children eating smaller meals and more snacks throughout the day," co-author Mary Yannakoulia told Reuters Health in an email.

However, she added, parents still need to pay attention to the quality of those snacks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 percent of kids and teens in the U.S. are obese - a proportion that has almost tripled since 1980.

"We know that it's so complex that there's absolutely not one cause or solution," Fisher said.

A third study also published this week in Pediatrics found teens who spent more time focused on the TV were heavier than their peers. However, time spent playing video games or on the computer was not tied to weight.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jsoh2P Pediatrics, online April 8, 2013.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday cleared BlackBerry and Samsung mobile devices for use on Defense Department networks, a step toward opening up the military to a wide variety of technology equipment makers while still ensuring communications security.

Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, a Pentagon spokesman, said the department cleared the use of BlackBerry 10 smart phones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets using its Enterprise Service 10 system, as well as Samsung's Android Knox.

"This is a significant step towards establishing a multi-vendor environment that supports a variety of state-of-the-art devices and operating systems," Pickart said in a statement.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it also expected to clear Apple mobile devices using the iOS 6 system at some point in early May.

The move to open up Defense Department networks is expected to set the stage for an intensified struggle for Pentagon customers among BlackBerry devices, Apple's iPhones or iPads and units using Google's Android platform such as Samsung Electronics' phones.

The Pentagon currently has some 600,000 users of smart phones, computer tablets and other mobile devices. The department has 470,000 BlackBerry users, 41,000 Apple users and 8,700 people with Android devices. Most Apple and Android systems are in pilot or test programs.

The move to open up the networks to a broader array of mobile devices is part of a Pentagon effort to ensure the military has access to the latest communications technology without locking itself in to a particular equipment vendor.

To ensure security, mobile devices and operating systems go through a security review process approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency. Once their Security Technical Implementation Guide - or STIG - is reviewed and approved, the devices can be used on the network.

Pickart said the decision on Thursday did not result in product orders. But it will enable user groups within the Pentagon to purchase the devices most appropriate for their work as the need arises.

"We are pleased to add Blackberry 10 and the Samsung Knox version of Android to our family of mobile devices supporting the Department of Defense," he said. "We look forward to additional vendors also participating in this process."

(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Eric Walsh)

The increase is the result of the government last year lowering the threshold for lead poisoning, so now more children are considered at risk.

Too much lead can harm developing brains and can mean a lower IQ. Lead poisoning used to be a much larger concern in the United States, but has declined significantly as lead was removed from paint and gasoline and other sources.

The new number translates to about 1 in 38 young children. That estimate suggests a need for more testing and preventive measures, some experts said, but budget cuts last year eliminated federal grant funding for such programs.

Those cuts represent "an abandonment of children," said David Rosner, a Columbia University public health historian who writes books about lead poisoning.

"We've been acting like the problem was solved and thiswas a thing ofthe past," he added.

Lead can harm a child's brain, kidneys and other organs. High levels in the blood can cause coma, convulsions and death. Lower levels can reduce intelligence, impair hearing and behavior and cause other problems.

Most cases of lead poisoning are handled by tracking and removing the lead source, and monitoring the children to make sure lead levels stay down. A special treatment to remove lead and other heavy metals is used only for extremely high levels.

Often, children who get lead poisoning live in old homes that are dilapidated or under renovation. They pick up paint chips or dust and put it in their mouth. Other sources include soil contaminated by old leaded gasoline, dust from industrial worksites and tainted drinking water

Lead has been banned in household paint since 1978 and was gone from gasoline by the late 1980s.

After lowering the standard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention went back and looked at old blood tests from 1,653 children under 6 to determine how many would have lead poisoning under the new definition.

About 3 percent of them or about 50 kids had blood lead levels higher than the new threshold of 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. Using that result, CDC officials calculated that an estimated 535,000 young children have lead poisoning.

A year ago, when the threshold was 10 micrograms, experts estimated that somewhere between 77,000 and 255,000 young kids had high levels of lead.

These estimates have focused on children younger than 6, who have been considered most at risk of neurological problems due to lead.

Overall, the new CDC study found lead counts were higher on average in children who were poor or African-American, said the CDC's Mary Jean Brown, an author of the study.

Those kids are more likely to live in old housing or in neighborhoods with greater exposure to lead, she added.

The good news: Even with the lower threshold, lead poisoning appears to still be declining. Years ago, some local health departments began tracking the number of kids with blood levels at 5 or greater, and they say those numbers have been dropping steadily.

However, it's likely that many children with lead poisoning have not been diagnosed. In the CDC study, elevated lead levels were discovered for a third of the children only when they were tested by researchers.

"When you look for it, you find it," Columbia's Rosner said.

Once lead poisoning is diagnosed, doctors often refer parents to local health departments to get their homes checked out to try to find the source of the problem. But as demand for investigations grows, there's less money to pay for them. Congress last year cut CDC lead program's budget from about $29 million to $2 million. That ended CDC grants to local health departments for their programs.

Detroit's lead program was all but eliminated because of the federal cut and state and local funding problems, said Bob Scott of Michigan's lead poisoning prevention program.

Other places are struggling to keep up with lead work at the same time they are cutting staff. The Cleveland area has been aggressive about lead poisoning prevention but the loss of CDC funding hurt those efforts.

For example, Cuyahoga County which includes Cleveland saw its staff for blood testing of children and public education drop from 2 1/2 positions to 1.

"It's unsustainable," said Terry Allan, the county's health commissioner.

____

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

Google hasn't stoppedthat's for sure. But when it publishes its statistics about how many people use what kind of Android gadgets, on theit now pretends that people who haven't opened up the Google Play app (and digital content) market in the last two weeks don't exist.

Here's why, what happened, and what Google is saying about it.

What information does Google show on the dashboard?

The dashboard is designed to help Android app developers know how many people are using what kind of smartphones. The most important thing on it is its "Platform Versions" chart, which shows how many people are using the latest version of Android and how many are stuck on an earlier one.

What changed about how Google collects it?

According to Google, the charts on its dashboard "are now built using data collected from each device when the user visits the Google Play Store," as opposed to "when the device simply checked-in to Google servers." Google postedbut even that is not fully clear about what this means. Does it count if you visit Google Play on the Internet from your computer, and remotely install an app on your phone or tablet?

Your Android smartphone or tablet checks for app updates on its own, at any rate, which is why icons appear in your notification area telling you there are updates. This is probably what Google meant by "when the device simply checked-in," or at least part of it.

How did the statistics change after Google did this?

"The numbers indicate a pretty dramatic increase for [the] Jelly Bean [version of Android] month over month and now show it as being on 25% of all Android devices." So the stats now show a lot more people using the most modern Android devices, like the Nexus 7 tablet, which came with Jelly Bean preinstalled, and pushed everyone who got it to go shopping on Google Play immediately, which is the behavior Google is tracking.

Why did Google make this change?

"We believe the new data more accurately reflects those users who are most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem," Google said on the dashboard. And as Kellex explained, "these numbers are supposed to be used by developers ... to help [them] target audiences for their apps." Knowing who's actually visiting the store where they'd buy a developer's app is more useful, to that developer, than just knowing who has an Android device which can run it.

Those numbers are also used by many tech media outlets, however (or "silly websites" as Kellex put it), for reporting on how many people are using a given version of Android. So far, those statistics have tended to make Google look bad, partly because the carriers and manufacturers don't usually update their devices in a timely matter and partly because Apple (by contrast) updates its iPhone and iPad devices frequently. Thanks to this change, it has now become harder to tell how many people are still stuck with older versions of Android.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

The Green Bay Packers announced Friday that they'd signed the quarterback to a contract extension. Though the team didn't release details, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported it's for five years and $110 million, which would be the highest salary in NFL history. The Baltimore Ravens gave quarterback Joe Flacco $120.6 million over six years in March.

"An exciting day for our football program," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in a statement. "Aaron is an excellent illustration of a Green Bay Packer. It is truly a blessing to witness his continued accomplishments, both on and off the field."

Rodgers was to address the media later Friday at Lambeau Field.

Locking up Rodgers was a priority for the Packers, who also reached a long-term extension with linebacker Clay Matthews this month. The Packers are 53-27 in Rodgers' five years as a starter, and he led them to the Super Bowl title following the 2010 season.

He has thrown for 21,661 yards and 171 touchdowns, and has had a quarterback rating of 101.2 or better in all but one season as a starter. His quarterback rating of 122.5 in 2011 is an NFL record.

"Aaron is a true professional and a special player," general manger Ted Thompson said in a statement. "He works hard, is humble, and is focused on his actions, on and off the field. He is an excellent teammate and pushes himself and others to be the very best. We are happy to reach an agreement to extend his career with the Packers."

The announcement of the extension comes eight years after Rodgers was snubbed by almost every other team in the NFL draft.

A standout at Cal, Rodgers was expected to be taken early in the first round of the 2005 draft. But he soon found himself alone in the green room, and didn't hear his name until the Packers chose him with the 24th overall pick.

It wasn't the last rough spot Rodgers would encounter.

He arrived in Green Bay as a backup to Brett Favre, who wasn't thrilled that the team had found an heir apparent. Favre kept fans and the franchise on their toes every offseason, flirting with the idea of retiring but always coming back. When the tension finally snapped in 2008 Favre retired, changed his mind and asked for his job back Rodgers found himself in the middle of the most bitter divorce in Wisconsin history.

Favre was traded to the New York Jets during training camp, but many fans remained loyal to him. They took their anger at the organization out on Rodgers, even booing him at the team's "Family Night" scrimmage. Rodgers kept his composure, never firing back at fans or even criticizing Favre.

Rodgers played well in his first year as a starter. Despite a 6-10 record, he showed flashes of why Thompson had such faith in him, and fans began coming around. Any lingering animosity disappeared after he led the Packers to the playoffs following the 2009 season, and he's now one of the most beloved figures in Wisconsin sports history. The Wisconsin Legislature designated Dec. 12, 2012, as "Aaron Rodgers Day," and students and workers throughout the state were encouraged to celebrate by wearing his jersey.

When he was shown on the Jumbotron at the Milwaukee Bucks' playoff game against the Miami Heat on Thursday, he got one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Rodgers holds four of Green Bay's top five single-season marks for passer rating (2009-12) and two of the top three for passing TDs (2011-12). He also has three of the top four records for completion percentage (2010-12) and two of the top three for passing yards (2009, 2011).

Couples danced and some sang along to old jazz standards such as "Back Home In Indiana" and "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" on Saturday.

Ferbos is believed to be the oldest actively working musician in the city. He performs regularly at the Palm Court Jazz Club in the French Quarter.

"He epitomizes New Orleans," said New Orleans resident Medora Monigold, a Jazz Fest veteran and fan of Ferbos. "In a day where the elders are not respected, he reminds us that wisdom and talent can exist at any age."

Monigold enjoyed a plate of seafood casserole and fried green tomatoes as she tapped her foot to the music.

Maryruth Senechal, of Hartford, Conn., said Ferbos was excellent. She said she catches his shows often at the Palm Court but prefers his performances at Jazz Fest.

"Here, I can dance and second-line. I love the old traditional brass band jazz," she said.

Senechal and her husband, Jean-Guy, have attended Jazz Fest 14 times and spend most of the festival at the jazz tent, where other acts for the day included trumpeter and singer Wendell Brunious and singer-pianist Tim Laughlin.

Brunious brought couples to their feet as he sang "I Will Never Be the Same" and "Big Chief," an upbeat number commonly performed at Mardi Gras that had many in the crowd dancing and hoisting umbrellas in the tradition known as second line. He closed his set with the New Orleans favorite "When the Saints Go Marching In."

On one of the bigger stages, the brass band Bonerama jammed before a crowd of thousands under sunny skies and a gentle breeze that broke through the warm temperatures.

"The sky is smiling upon us," said Quint Davis, the festival's producer. "We do it rain or shine, but we reach the spirit and zenith when in the sunshine."

Davis said Friday's opening day saw bigger crowds than last year.

That trend seemed to continue Saturday as thousands packed the grass spaces in front of the festival's largest stage to hear the day's final performer, Joel, who opened his set with "Movin' Out." He told the crowd that New York hurt with New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. "After Hurricane Sandy, we're taking inspiration from you guys," he said as the crowd cheered in response.

He also did his classics, "Only the Good Die Young" and "Piano Man."

On a nearby stage, neo-soul singer Jill Scott dazzled fans, singing several of her hits including "It's Love," ''The Way," ''So In Love," and "Quick."

New Orleans native Darnie Williams described herself as Scott's No. 1 fan.

"She's just awesome," she said of Scott in between dancing and singing along with her. "She's just a true soul sister. She's real and her music is so soulful, much like Aretha and Gladys Knight."

Jazz Fest continues through Sunday and then resumes May 2-5. Festival-goers will be treated to traditional jazz, rock 'n roll, Cajun, gospel, blues, hip-hop, funk and zydeco.

Second-weekend headliners include Hall and Oates, Fleetwood Mac, Little Big Town, Aaron Neville and Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews.

___

Associated Press writer Stacey Plaisance in New Orleans contributed to this report.